We've expanded our certification framework to reflect the evolving social enterprise landscape

Australia's social enterprise certification was first developed in 2018 - with inclusivity and diversity at its core. Together, with the Australian social enterprise sector and global social enterprise certifiers, we crafted a robust and dynamic framework - which continually adapts to silhouette the broad variety of impact generated by the sector.

We categorise social enterprises into three primary impact models:

1. Employment generating – social enterprises that provide employment and training opportunities for people from marginalised backgrounds
2. Community Need – social enterprises that deliver products and/or services in direct response to a community need
3. Profit Redistribution – social enterprises that donate at least 50% of profits to charitable purposes

The latest evolution to the certification framework is specific to employment generating social enterprises. Previously, we captured impact metrics around direct employment and employability skills training, including:

• Headcount of beneficiaries directly employed by the social enterprise
• Hours worked by beneficiaries directly employed by the social enterprise
• Hours of employability skills training provided to beneficiaries by the social enterprise.

Today, an increasing number of social enterprises are delivering employment outcomes external to their organisations - as part of a pathway to mainstream employment. We’re proud to expand our framework to better reflect the impact of social enterprises that operate with this model.

Beyond the direct employment and training outcomes outlined above, we’ll now be collecting the following figures to build insights into pathways outcomes generated by social enterprises, including:

• Headcount of beneficiaries placed into employment with an external employer
• Headcount of beneficiaries still in external employment after three months (or after first periodic check-in)
• Whether most of the beneficiaries placed into employment were placed into full-time, part-time or casual roles
• Headcount of beneficiaries assisted to transition to further study.

These metrics were developed in collaboration with social enterprises falling within this category and grounded by our long-standing experience and in-depth industry knowledge.

When does a job outcome count as a pathway outcome?

We acknowledge that most employment-focused social enterprises will contribute to an individual’s pathway to mainstream employment, in some shape or form.

The pathways outcomes captured through our certification framework are limited to situations where the social enterprise is actively involved with the external (host) employer - and has a dedicated pathway support function. (i.e., not just a natural progression to another role after being employed at the social enterprise.

How do we define a pathway outcome? When an individual from a marginalised background receives specialised support from a social enterprise to transition into external employment or further study.

What’s next?

We’ve also seen an incredible diversity in the social impact delivered by our ‘Community Need’ model. With an increasing number of social enterprises focused on circular economy and environmental outcomes, we are looking to expand our certification and impact framework to better capture the impact generated in these spaces. Stay tuned for more!

Image courtesy of certified social enterprise VMCH.